Service: Naming

MEM’S LEG

CAT-TASTROPHE

Mem’s Leg is the tribute to  a wonderful calico cat, Mem, who got into a tussle with an off leash Pitbull. Mem lost the fight and her rear leg after chewing through the stitches that had  put her leg back on.  While sounding tragic, Mem  moved forward as a very loved and  very happy 3 legged cat. She probably received more attention this way than she ever did prior.

The product, Mem’s Leg, is  a fun plush super sized leg that  doubles as a satchel, ready to carry your phone, keys and wallet. The interior is lined with   flannel, reminiscent of that old sleeping bag your parents had as kids ( or if you’re old, maybe it was your sleeping bag). Of course, Mem’s Leg is part of the Furillaverse.

BIO POD

Lifesaver

The SKWRL Bio Pod  is the industrial version of the Marwall  super insulated twin walled stainless steel  storage pod. This version  powder coats the exterior of the stainless steel and is targeted for food storage and beyond.

The pod shown features a double wall Triton lid that sandwiches a silicone gasket. This gasket provides a leak-proof seal. This configuration includes eating utensils, though other tools  may be employed.  An organ recovery version was  recently deployed in  eastern Europe with scalpels, forceps and suturing tools.

This insulated container can be used wherever temperature maintenance is required. The pod can be used for the transport of  food, living tissue, medicines,  plant life, pathogens and any temperature sensitive materials.

GWIJ TRANSLATING / TEXTING APP

SPEAK- A MY LANGUAGE

Imagine you’re in  high school  and the new super cute Brazilian student arrives in your class and they barely speak English. With GWIJ on your phone you can start communicating with them immediately. You set your primary  language to English (you’re in the USA) and then make your  secondary  language Portuguese. Start babbling, I mean, texting away, and you’ll   be easily understood  ( remember, don’t come on too strong, or they’ll think you’re a weirdo).

GWIJ is a translating and texting App that FUSE helped design.  We did the name, the identity and  key frame design, even the double bubble text holder!  This app is just like your native IOS  messaging app, but allows you to set your primary language and  a secondary language that instantly translates your primary language. You can then send either your primary or secondary language  to whomever you’re texting with. The best part is you can see both your primary and secondary languages in the double bubble text  box.

With GWIJ,  you can see the Portuguese in real time as  you type your  words of love, I mean, your words of your  native  language.  Then, if you want to hear what the pronunciation is, you can hit the speaker icon in the double bubble and the GWIJ Translator Robot (she looks like Nicole Kidman) will speak what you’ve written out loud. This means you can practice saying clever things like,  “Wow,  I ‘d like  to  eat  this bad cafeteria pizza off your beautiful neck”.  OK, don’t say that, you barely know this person.  Ask them something like, “do you have a pet Tapir back home in Brazil?” And, in Portuguese: “Voce tern uma anta de estinacaao no Brasil?”

Get GWIJ in the Apple App store now!

Runners Orp

BE EVEN MORE SPLATTERPROOF

Orp Industries has  always talked about building a running version of their innovative  bike horn/ light product, and finally with our help, they’ve done it.

The Runners Orp or “Rorp” is for runners, walkers, hikers and boarders of all  types. The big idea, of course, is to make  pedestrians more visible by being more hearable, but the  Rorp can do more. Runners and walkers who use nights or  dark early mornings to run and walk not only have a beacon to be seen but also a very loud horn to let any would be attackers know their attention  is unwanted,  and if that’s not enough, an accessory cranulator (machined aluminum) is available to cause  more serious damage.

The Rorp has a gumby-like malleable metal armature in its body so it holds on to you, works for small and large hand sizes and  features a dual tone horn,  just like the bike Orp, and the actuator is  always under thumb. The Rorp is symmetrical so works on either hand.  Multiple light modes including  highly visible green LEDs. The LEDs fire every time either horn is fired. Newest versions incorporate a  180 degree  Chip On Board (COB_ LED array. This new LED offers better visibility.

NED (NOT BREAD)

EDIBLE PACKAGING

A few summers ago we were on a camping trip with another couple and one of the partners  had a gluten allergy. We had stopped  at drive-thru for a quick refuel on the way back. The gluten free friend (GFF) had ordered a vegan burger with a lettuce wrap to avoid the bun. What a mess! There were condiments all over her hands and  subsequently, my car!   Not only is the gluten a problem, it’s also the high carbs of that bun. A typical burger bun is some 40 grams of high glycemic index refined white flour. There had to be a better way.

When we got back to or studio, I grabbed ( hang on, not physically)  a colleague and  we brainstormed. I always loved the genius of the edible ice cream cone, especially the  one inaccurately named the “cake” cone.  I did a little research  and these wonders of industrialization, a literal injection  molding  of water and flour are only 6 grams of carbs and that’s with rice flour. And, it gets better…, if you use almond flour, you can bring the carb count down to zero! Not to mention how brilliant the whole  family of edible  packages are!  Taco shells! Sushi! And then.. wholly cow ,  and  start digging in more,  and  did you know  the average common restaurant – remember those , burrito  flour tortilla  can be 80 grams of  carbs!!!

The big idea was to make a small edible piece of luggage, kidding, not luggage but a bread or tortilla  replacement that could be gluten free if needed  and lower carb. This is good for celiacs, diabetics and everyone that wants to lower their ingestion of high glycemic  index carbohydrates.  By the way,  the term “Keto” was Google searched for more than Subaru in the Pacific NW.

In terms of design,  this concept  allows  almost infinite shape, color, texture and flavor. This concept can replace anything where bread is simply a carrier. Think pizza, tacos, burritos, all the bread shapes,  even low carb snacks like crackers can be NED. Best of all if you were brought up by TV like some of  us were, then  you’ll love  the brand-ability of this concept. See the images above.

Knowing there’s a fair amount of tooling (though relatively inexpensive per mold) to make these things, we approached the Joy Cone company with NED. They are biggest  ice cream cone maker in the U.S.  with plants in Pennsylvania and Arizona. Joy makes special branded cones for  some of their largest customers.

I don’t  want to say we’re brilliant, but I think  given the hand friendliness, this qualifies as thumbelievable!

Ok, shutting up now –  have a look!

 

ARIEL CHAIR

When they go low, we go high.

The Ariel chair is an update to the Crane chair. This new version  adds a visually thicker mold-able cellular structure that conforms to the  users’ body.

The Ariel Chair  features that same elastomer powered lift mechanism that allows users to set up standing desks and sit only when needed. Users can sit and lean against the Ariel with its easily locked casters. Ariel’s more minimal i-Back encourages active postures.

Complex only 3D printable structures are super intriguing, but really hard to make. At the moment, 3D printing while compellin,g is unbelievably slow compared to modern injection molding. This design  creates a thermally neutral  cellular surface that is cleanable and most importantly, mold-able.

SofStick

KIDS LOVE STICKS

After a friend’s kid got  hurt while playing with a stick, we had an idea. Why not make a safe stick? All kids love sticks, right?! SofStick is that safe stick. Made from elastomeric bead foam (think  that molded packing foam that protects your new iMac), Sofstick provides all the fun of a real stick without the stabbing risk. Also, SofSticks float so can easily be a replacement for a foam pool noodle and be an all season toy. We designed a 46″long sword size SofStick and a thicker SofLog version.

BANDIT

An orthodontist came to FUSE with an idea  that can speed orthodontia.   The problem is an orthodondist will generally guess at the size of the band he or she needs to use on a particular tooth. More experienced orthodontists are more likely to get this right but they often get this wrong as well. This takes time and wastes bands or these wrong ones need to be autoclaved.  Our client wanted a way to measure teeth that would work for  an unlimited number of  patients. This Orthodontist’s plan was to sell  the eventual product to a large orthodontic supplier like Ormco.

We came up with  what we called the BandIt.  The Bandit was a simple one handed electromechanical device that used a consumable stainless steel loop that would wrap around the tooth and provide a measurement and recommend a particular size band on its built in LCD display.

 

Aquaduct

DIY Plumbing in the house of the future.

GE Plastics built a  conceptual house utilizing the thermoplastics and their latest thinking in terms of  sustainability. GE was way ahead of the game back in the 90’s. They knew thermoplastics could be recycled and reused.  Their plan was to have manufacturers use engineering grade thermoplastic in applications that required virgin materials like food and medical and then cascade down into automotive , then finally into building and construction where they could live for a longer period of time before obsolescence

One virgin application  FUSE principal Tory worked on straight out of school was this blow molded plumbing panel dubbed the Aquaduct. The idea was this  panel replaced all the measuring and cutting of copper. Quick fit connectors would be used so plumbing this sort of common  sink installation job could be a snap!

BikeBark

This was a proactive project  providing a solution to the problem of bike parking since  most bike have lost kickstands. The problem is  you lean your bike against paint damaging poles and then  your bike suffers  more than cosmetic damage.  We got this into Wired magazine and sold into REI. The rubber manufacturer who was pressing  BIKEBARK bought the product a few months after we premiered at Interbike.